Our book for January was, as you know, HILLBILLY ELEGY. Unfortunately, only three of us were in attendance for our meeting last Friday, so we bugged out of the Pinery Club and went to breakfast for discussion. We all enjoyed the story very much and for the most part, thought it was well written. However, both Bonnie Jean and Lindsay agreed with Susan that his views on Appalachian culture seemed rather exclusive. As a matter of fact, Susan, your review was SO well written I would like to add it to this email, for those who might have missed it.
From Susan: I really enjoyed reading Hillbilly Elegy. Great suggestion, Kellie! J.D. Vance provided a fascinating perspective on a timely topic. I’m really sorry to miss Book Club, and instead I wrote LONG comments!
On the positive side, I found Vance to be an entertaining storyteller who detailed his family story and its relationship to what he calls the “greater Appalachian culture.” I had never connected Ohio with this culture, especially since my late Czech-American dad was from Cleveland and grew up in a very different ethnic subculture. I was fascinated by his explanation of the Appalachian diaspora, including migration to western Ohio. Vance’s story was strongest when he regaled his readers with his colorful family members, particularly his redoubtable gun-totin’ and cussin’ Mamaw and his Papaw. I appreciated that he wrote the book to pay homage to the critical role that they played in his life. His narrative certainly underscores the serious issue of widespread unemployment, hopelessness, and drug addiction in many Rust Belt communities.
On the downside:
I found that Vance’s tendency to use his own family and community experiences to make broad inferences regarding “Hillbilly culture” and "the white working class" problematic. Sam and I worked in a family practice clinic in a medically underserved area in western North Carolina for seven years. We lived there in the 80s and 90s, which was a very different time, but we’ve stayed in touch with our friends. (They preferred to be called Western North Carolinians or Highlanders rather than “hillbillies.”) We found that our friends, patients, and neighbors in a small town south of Asheville tended to be community-oriented, church going, and family oriented people. There were certainly those with substance abuse problems and families with abuse issues. While Vance mentions that these less dysfunctional people exist, he leaves the reader with a sense that his family experiences represent “Hillbilly” culture. In my experience, there were considerable community variations. There was a nearby county called “Bloody Madison” county because of frequent “feuds” and violence. Patients with gunshot wounds often rolled into the Asheville Emergency Room. It sounded more like Vance's description of his Kentucky hometown. However, it seemed to be an outlier. I feel that Vance’s over-generalizations are a disservice to people who share a unique Appalachian subculture characterized by close ties of family and community with the usual mix of functional and dysfunctional relationships. (Or am I just being defensive? I’m Scots-Irish on my mom’s side. Scots always get stereotyped as drinkin’ and theivin’ and fightin’!) This area of western NC has experienced the closing of factories and businesses in the wake of NAFTA. One problem that they face is the out-migration of young people in search of jobs and an aging population.
I also think that Vance’s book would have been stronger if he had simply told the strong narrative of his life, family, and community and left the sociological/psychological analysis to the introduction and the conclusion. His social commentary seemed patchy and at times disrupted the flow of his narrative.
Nonetheless, Hillbilly Elegy was a good read and it provides one perspective on the problems facing many white working class communities in the Appalachian and Rust Belt areas. The book has certainly sparked conversations about this topic! I’m sorry to miss our discussion!!
Thanks for making my job easy this month, Susan! I would say we rated the book a 3.75.- 4. Also, I will say that this book inspired me so much so, that I am now reading WHITE TRASH by Nancy Isenberg. This book has been difficult to get through but I am determined to finish it. Not written in story form, this book is just facts and figures, very academic and verbose. I liken it to reading a text book. Welcome back to school, Kellie :) That being said I am learning a LOT.
Our book for next month is WILD SWANS: THREE DAUGHTERS OF CHINA by Jung Chang, and our meeting is scheduled for the February 10th.
No comments:
Post a Comment